Betis will play for its place in the quarterfinals of the Europa League in La Cartuja after losing in a gray duel against Panathinaikos due to a last-gasp penalty from Llorente. A disaster that can be resolved in a week despite the fact that Pellegrini’s team exposed a handful of worrying feelings by not being able to impose their football or demonstrate ambition when they had numerical superiority for many minutes. There were no traces of Antonio. Cucho didn’t get it right. And no one raised his hand to stand up leader of a Betis that needs one. Not even Abde’s spark, which led to the expulsion of a rival, was enough. A notable disappointment for a team that dreams of the Champions League.
Pellegrini decided to protect himself with once he had balance. With Altimira. Fidalgo Sin. Panathinaikos did what was predictable: they gave the ball to their rival and withdrew their lines almost from the start. It was Benítez’s plan. Maybe also Pellegrini’s. Was abde the first to warn with his intention to boost the green and white: his launch from a distance did not worry Lafont. With the stage already exposed, cucho appears to finish off a service from the left and meet the French goalkeeper.
There were threads of satisfaction in that first stretch of mourning. But there were also mirages that covered the lack of creativity in some aspects of the green and white game. formal He wanted to appear and did so only with brushstrokes, although in one of them he found the space to drive and serve a pass into the area for Cucho, who controlled and finished to try again. Lafont reliability. The hitting exercise required something more.
Betis wanted to put one more gear in its intensity after the resumption. He did so by accelerating his partnerships and trying to push Panathinaikos further back. Benítez’s men were waiting for their moment, with each stopped ball as a golden opportunity and with tetteh throwing unchecked shots into space to win physical duels. When the game seemed to be leading to nothing, Abde decided to change the board: he launched his umpteenth overthrow and caused Zaroury to see his second yellow. It was once against ten with a lot ahead.
Everything indicated that Betis would accelerate everything. But it didn’t happen. Benítez restructured his plan and his team even created more danger after being reduced to ten. The green and white team was filled with nerves and ran out of ideas. Pellegrini revolutionized his left wing so that Riquelme and Junior took over from a band through which he did threaten Abde. There was a rush. But there was no football.
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Panathinaikos glimpsed the closure and once again extreme their retreat. Cucho fought against everything while waiting for a lethal appearance from Antony or an invention from Fornals. The predictable remained so. So much so that the Greek team counterattacked so that Swiderski He will face Pau López’s goal. His shot was ineffective, but it took a subsequent kick from Llorente that invited the VAR to enter the scene. Taborda did not fail from the penalty spot. It was an unexpected punishment for Betis who threw away this first leg of the round of 16 and will play all their cards in La Cartuja.
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Changes
Valentin Gomez (45′, Natan), Rodrigo Riquelme (67′, Abde Ezzalzouli), Junior Firpo (67′, Ricardo Rodríguez), Nelson Deossa (78′, Sergi Altimira), Karol Swiderski (82′, Andrews Tetteh), Manolis Siopis (82′, Adam Gnezda Cerin), Marc Bartra (88′, Pablo Fornals), Filip Djuricic (92′, Facundo Pellistri), Santino Andino (93′, Vicente Taborda)
goals
1-0, 87′: Vicente Taborda
Cards
Referee: Szymon Marciniak
VAR referee: Jarred Gillett, Matt Donohue
Sousa (16′, Yellow), Anas Zaroury (47′, Yellow), Anas Zaroury (58′, Red), crying (65′, Yellow), Junior Firpo (74′, Yellow), crying (85′, Red), Pau Lopez (86′, Yellow)